Building unit and wall



Jan. 25, 1938. J. w. WARREN BUILDING UNIT AND WALL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 16,- 1933 FIG. 4-

FIG. 6.

FIG. 5.

FIG/7.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

My invention relates to building units and walls made therefrom.

More particularly the invention provides a building unit or block of novel form, and contemplates also a wall built of a plurality of such units without the use of mortar bedding and having certain novel and advantageous characteristics as hereinafter pointed out.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a building unit adapted to be associated with a plurality of similar units in a strong and accurately vertical wall wherein the use of mortar bedding to align the vertical faces of the units and to dispose the units of the several lateral courses in true horizontal alignment is eliminated. Obviously the units of such a wall may be laid at a maximum of speed and a minimum of expense, since a large factor in the cost and time required to lay the units of a conventional wall is the skilled labor required to bed the units in relatively thick layers of mortar interposed between the horizontal courses to compensate for irregularities in the units and make each of the lateral courses accurately level and horizontal.

A further object is to provide a complete wall formed of a plurality of specially formed units laid without the use of mortar bedding, to which is securely tied a veneer of brick or the like with a dead air insulation space between the veneer and the rest of the wall structure.

Another object is the provision of a specially formed wall unit having a surface configured with distinct integral ribs adapted to serve as studding elements when the units are assembled in a wall construction, and in a preferred form of embodiment the material of which the units are formed is nailable, i. e., adapted to be penetrated by a nail and to hold the nail, so that laths adapted to receive plaster may be nailed to the integral studding elements.

A further object is to provide units which when laid in a wall will present an aggregate plane vertical face to which may be applied any customary finish, such as paint, plaster, stucco, weatherboarding, brick veneer or the like. In the full and preferred embodiment of the invention the units are formed with one plane face and an opposite ribbed face, so that any of the customary finishes may be applied to the plane face and laths may be secured to the ribbed face forthe application of plaster or similar interior finish.

A feature of the invention is the adaptability of .the channels occurring'between the ribs of the units to receive electric conduits, or any kind of piping, etc., as well as the capacity of the channelsto serve as dead air insulating pockets without detracting from the strength of the wall.

A specific object of the invention in a pre- 5 ferred form of embodiment is to provide units formed with a depressed portion adapted to be horizontally disposed when the units are assembled in a wall construction and to accommodate ties for securing a veneer of brick or the like to the wall.

A further feature of the invention is to provide a unit adapted to be associated with a plurality of similar units in a wall without the use of mortar bedding, each unit cooperating with each adjacent unit to provide a vertical well common to the two units adapted to receive cement or the like which, upon setting, securely ties the units together and prevents individual lateral displacement of any unit. 20

Various other important features and characteristics of the invention will be more evident as the description hereinafter proceeds.

The invention is described in certain preferred forms of embodiment in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application for Letters Patent and in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a unit embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a complete wall showing one manner of using the unit;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a wall showing another manner of using the unit;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken through the wall shown in Fig. 2; 35

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the wall shown in Fig. 2;

Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections showing another type of wall laid up from units embodying the invention; I

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of two forms of ties or anchors adapted to secure a spaced veneer of brick or the like to a wall formed from the units; and

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the joint between two superposed units, shown on a much enlarged scale.

Although for thousands of years walls have been successfully built up from a plurality of superposed blocks or units, it has always been necessary, so far as I am aware, to bed the units in mortar laid between adjacent horizontal courses, if the successive courses were to be kept accurately horizontal and the faces of the units .wereall-ito lie accurately in the same vertical plane. Application of the mortar is work requiring considerable skill, and even when the workman is possessed of adequate skill the operation necessarily proceeds slowly and at relatively great expense. I have discovered that the necessity of using mortar may be entirely eliminated if the units are made with accurately parallel top and bottom plane faces. When so formed, it is only necessary that the lowermost course of units be accurately level. All the superposed courses, no matter how high the wall may be extended, will then each be accurately horizontal, if the units are laid immediately on each other without interposed mortar, and if the front faces of the units are made truly parallel to the top and bottom faces, the face of the wall will lie entirely in a single and truly vertical plane.

The unit contemplated by the present invention, and best shown in Fig. 1, therefore comprises a cast body, preferably of comparatively large proportions, having top and bottom surfaces I, which are accurately parallel to each other, and having a front face 2 which is accurately perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces. It is evident that a plurality of units so formed, may be laid up in a wall which will be perfectly plumb through any height even though no mortar bedding be used in the horizontal joints so long as the units of the lowermost horizontal course are properly aligned.

I prefer to cast the unit. Since it is desirable that the units in the wall be cemented together by an interposed coating of grout or analogous thin cementitious material, and since, for a purpose hereinafter to be explained, I prefer that the units be nailable, i. e., adapted to receive and hold a driven nail, the plastic mix from which the units are cast may be made up according to the following formula:

One part by volume of Portland cement;

Seven parts by volume of coal cinders;

Water in sufficient quantity to reduce the mix to casting consistency.

An alternative composition is as follows:

One part by volume of Portland cement;

Eight parts by volume of basic phosphate slag;

Water in sufiicient quantity to reduce the mix to casting consistency.

The slag of the second formula is a by-product of the blast furnace. The cinder or slag is crushed and screened preferably to pass a inchmesh, and all the fines passing such a mesh are included in the mix.

Units cast from the mixes prescribed above are of relatively coarse, cellular structure. The ad vantages of such a structure are principally twofold: (1) the porous upper and lower faces of the unit made from such material are well adapted to be penetrated by a thin grout or the like enabling the grout securely to bond superposed units together without spacing the units apart; and (2) units cast from such material are nailable, as has been explained.

To proceed with the description of the form of the unit in its preferred embodiment: The face opposite the surface 2 will for convenience be designated the rear face, and is preferably configured with distinct integral ribs in any convenient number. In the embodiment shown in the drawings there is a single intermediate rib 3 and two end ribs 4. Each end rib is, of approximately one-half the width of the intermediate rib, so that when units are laid end to end in 'a wall'the rear face of the wall will present what is virtually a plurality of uniformly wide integral studs with sizable channels between adjacent studs, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Each end wall of the unit is preferably channeled vertically as shown at 6, and at least one of the edges formed by the juncture of a top or bottom surface and an end surface is preferably bevelled off, as shown at 1. For greater convenience I prefer to form a bevel I at diagonally opposite edges of the unit so that the unit may be used with either of the faces 3 serving as a top surface.

. The unit thus particularly described is laid up with a plurality of similar units in a wall as has been explained. The surfaces 3 of vertically adjacent units are. in immediate contact, no mortar bedding being interposed. To tie such units together I use a thin grout or equivalent cementitious material. I have found a grout made by the following formula highly successful:

25 per cent by volume of Portland cement;

25 per cent by volume of hydrated lime;

50 per cent by volume of volcanic ash;

Water in sufficient quantity to reduce the mix to a creamy consistency.

This grout is flowed onto the top surfaces 3 of the horizontal course of units and penetrates the large pores resulting from the coarse texture of the unit material. The grout also fills the well 8 formed by the cooperating end channels 6 of adjacent units. The grout sets slowly and when a unit of the next higher horizontal course is slid into place over the grouted surfaces 3 of the course therebeneath, the two units are in immediate contact and their levels are determined, not by the angle at which they are set in mortar bedding, but by the parallel planes of their top and bottom surfaces 3. It will be observed that the coarse cellular nature of these surfaces 3 permits excess grout to retreat into the body of the units and prevents the grout from spacing the units apart. The column of grout which sets in the well 8 securely binds horizontal adjacent units together and prevents their lateral displacement. The result is a substantial and accurately vertical wall quickly and inexpensively laid up, and having high vertical and lateral strength.

Fig. shows, on a very much enlarged scale, the bonded surfaces of two superposed units. In the figure the pores are shown at A and the high points which define the planes of the juxtaposed surfaces are designated B. Filling the pores and not materially covering the high points B is a grout designated generally C.

Figs. 2 to 7 show various types of wall in which the unit heretofore described is an element. In Fig. 2 laths are shown nailed to the studs formed by the ribs 3 and 4, and plaster is applied to the laths in the usual manner. A brick veneer is shown in this figure finishing the front face of the wall and spaced therefrom by ties 9 and I0, hereinafter more particularly described.

In Fig. 3 the arrangement of Fig. 2 is reversed, the plaster being applied directly to the plane face of the wall formed by the surface 2, and the brick veneer being set adjacent the ribbed or studded side of the wall. It will be evident that a coating of paint may be substituted for the plaster shown in Fig. 3.

Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively horizontal and vertical sections of the wall shown in Fig. 2, while Figs. 6 and 7 show any usual type of weatherboarding l l nailed to the plane and ribbed surfaces respectively of the wall.

The ties or anchors shown in Figs. 8 and 9 may be of various designs, but each preferably has a portion adapted to be embedded in the mortar of the brick veneer and another portion adapted to be secured to the laid up units. The tie of Fig. 8 thus has a portion l2, conveniently formed as a loop or eye, adapted to be embedded in the mortar of the brick veneer, while the other end I3 is conveniently hooked for extending into the well 8 and being securely held there by the set grout. The bevelled edge I of the unit accommodates the intermediate portion l4 of the tie, so that the accurate level of the unit is in no way disturbed by the presence of the tie.

The tie of Fig. 9 has a corrugated end l5 adapt- I ed to be embedded in the mortar of the brick veneer and a right-angular tab H5 at its opposite end adapted to be nailed to a vertical face of one of the units.

I believe it is evident from the foregoing description that the invention is by no means limited to units or walls made therefrom in the precise embodiments by which the invention has been exemplified. On the contrary the principles of the invention are of wide application and contemplate other and further embodiments. All such modifications, in so far as they embody the principles of the invention as set forth in the appended claims are to be deemed within the scope and purview thereof.

I claim:

1. A building wall comprising a plurality of units arranged in horizontal courses, certain of the units having a horizontally extending depression and a vertical channel communicating with the depression, a veneer for the wall and a tie having a portion fastened to the veneer and in the depression and another portion embedded in the channel securing the veneer to the units.

2. A building wall comprising a plurality of blocks in vertically staggered relation, each block comprising in its entirety a unitary, integral body cast from material adapted after hardening to be penetrated by a nail and to hold the nail, said body having top and bottom surfaces characterized by the presence of relatively large pores, the high points of each of said surfaces lying in a single plane and said planes being accurately parallel, and each body having a surface normal to said top and bottom surfaces configured with distinct integral ribs, including such ribs at its extreme ends, adapted to serve as studding elements and to have laths nailed directly thereto by engagement of fastening nails or the like therewith, each end rib being of substantially half the thickness of an intermediate rib, and each end rib having in its surface which constitutes the end surface of the body a channel extending from the top to the bottom surface and cooperating with a similar channel of an adjacent body to provide a vertical well equal to the height of a body, a filling of cement or the like in said well tying the bodies together and preventing individual horizontal displacement of the bodies, and a coating of grout substantially filling said pores bonding the top and bottom surfaces of adjacent superposed bodies together with the high points thereof in substantial contact.

3. A building wall comprising a plurality of superposed units having their adjacent top and bottom surfaces disposed horizontally and in substantial contact, each unit comprising a body having the edge common to an end surface and a horizontal surface beveled, a tie for securing a veneer of brick or the like to said wall, and cementitious material in the pocket formed by said beveled edges holding said tie in place in said pocket.

4. A building wall comprising a plurality of superposed units having their adjacent top and bottom surfaces disposed horizontally and in substantial contact, each unit comprising a body having one of its horizontal surfaces indented to provide a pocket, a tie for securing a veneer of brick or the like to said wall comprising an-ele ment having a portion extending into said pocket, and cementitious material in said pocket holding said portion in place therein.

5. A building wall comprising a plurality of bodies in vertically staggered relation, each body having a top and a bottom surface, end surfaces and a front and rear surface, one of said front and rear surfaces having an intermediate vertical rib and having vertical end ribs provided with vertical channels, each channel cooperating with a similar channel in a horizontally adjacent body in the wall to provide a vertical well extending between the intermediate ribs of bodies above and below, and a filling of cement or the like in said well tying the bodies together and preventing individual horizontal displacement of the bodies.

6. A building wall comprising a plurality of bodies in vertically staggered relation, each body having an end wall provided with a channel extending from top to bottom of said body, said channel cooperating with a similar channel in a horizontally adjacent body in the wall to provide a vertical well, means comprised by an element in the wall below said well forming a bottom closure for said well, and a filling of cement or the like in the well tying the bodies together and preventing individual horizontal displacement of the bodies.

'7. A building wall comprising a plurality of units arranged in horizontal courses, the units of vertically adjacent courses having irregular horizontal surfaces including indented points and having projecting points in substantial contact, the horizontal surfaces of each of certain of said units having a horizontally extending depression and a communicating vertical channel, grout filling the spaces between the vertically adjacent indented points of the units of vertically adjacent courses to bond said units together and filling said depression and channel, a veneer for the wall, and a tie embedded in the veneer and in the grout filling the depression and channel securing the veneer to the units.

JOHN WRIGHT WARREN. 

